News

To celebrate Bryan's 70th Birthday, he and Martin will be following in Wainwright's footsteps trekking 200 miles coast to coast, from St Bees in the Lake District to Robin Hood Bay near Whitby.

He writes "Having had the privilege to meet Dr Sasa and learn about the work of Health and Hope through Coast Family Church in Bude, I'm delighted that we can use this occasion to support his work in Myanmar."

The route will take Bryan and Martin 11 days to complete, starting out on the 5th July with Bryan's wife kindly heading up the support team!

Bryan started off with a fundraising target of £2,500 which he has already surpassed. He is hoping to help us raise money towards finishing off the construction of the hydro-electric work, which will bring clean drinking water and electricity to the clinic, training centre and village. We are really grateful to Bryan and Martin for using their time so generously and for the significant contribution that this will make to bring clean running water to the local community.

If you would like to support them and donate to their incredible fundraising efforts, please follow the link below to their give.net page:

Well done Bryan and Martin, we really look forward to hearing more about your exploits!

We’re recruiting: Senior Programme Officer

Health and Hope UK (HHUK) is a Christian relief and development NGO working alongside our primary operational partner, Health and Hope Myanmar (HHM), to deliver programmes structured around three key areas of health, education and food security in western Myanmar.

HHUK are looking to appoint a new role, based in the UK: Senior Programme Officer. This is an exciting opportunity for a person with a passion for community development to join the team of a small, but effective international development organisation.

HHUK are looking for an experienced professional who will work closely alongside the Executive Director to further the growth of Health and Hope’s work through the promotion and strengthening of our Christian ethos and foundation; supporting the professional development of existing and new programmes of work in Myanmar, including capacity building and training; taking responsibility for the development of high quality project documentation and reporting; identifying and developing new sources of funding; and building strong relationships with existing partners.

The person must be an experienced team player who is keen to serve the work of local people and the local church overseas responding to development challenges which face their local communities. The person must be able to draw on their extensive development experience and apply their technical expertise across the broad areas of health, education and food security. The candidate will need to develop remote and face-to-face relationships with the team in Myanmar, providing advice and guidance, while also learning from and working closely alongside them.

The candidate must be able to travel overseas to remote areas of Myanmar to provide training and capacity building, monitor the implementation of projects and accompany partners to our work.

The candidate must be able to work remotely, with independence and initiative. The candidate MUST have experience in working cross-culturally, preferably having spent a significant amount of their career either living or working with partner NGOs / Churches overseas.
Health and Hope UK have no fixed office base. The candidate will be required to work from home using virtual meeting spaces, as well as travel for face-to-face meetings, mostly between London and Hampshire.

N.B. There is an occupational requirement for the Senior Programme Officer to have an active personal commitment to the Christian faith.

If you are interested in applying for the position, after having read the job description and attachments carefully, please submit a letter of interest explaining your background in relation to the job role and your interest in and reasons for wishing to apply. Please also attach your CV if you have one. Please send this to via email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) before 8th January 2018.

We will arrange an informal phone call or face-to-face meeting to discuss the opportunity with chosen applicants. Following this, there will be a formal interview for those selected as suitable for the role in mid-January 2018.

We encourage you to write to us on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call on 020 8144 5701 with any questions that you have prior to making an application. If we are unable to take your call, please leave a message along with your phone number so that we can return your call.

Cyclone Mora Rebuilding Appeal - Video Update

On the 30th May 2017, cyclone Mora swept across Chin State, western Myanmar, triggering landslides and destroying buildings in rural villages.

At our main base in Lailenpi town, there was considerable damage to roads and homes and sadly our training centre was torn down by the high winds and torrential rain.

Yet despite the personal impact and sorrow felt by our staff and the local villagers, hope is rising.

Health and Hope staff and a committed team from the local community have come together to dismantle the old training facility and prepare the ground for a new, reinforced training hall and dormitory to be built.

Take a look at our short film to see what has been going on in Lailenpi since the cyclone hit:

As the film above shows, the site is now ready and waiting for rebuilding work to start. We are grateful for the support of eMI-World who are providing world-class architectural and structural engineering support to help design a reinforced building which will withstand future cyclones and earth tremors.

In the last newsletter we asked for your help to raise £60,000 towards the rebuilding budget. We are delighted to report that, thanks to your generosity, you have helped us to raise nearly £45,000 towards this target. This is enabling construction work to move ahead while additional fundraising is taking place. Thank you so much!

If you can help us to raise further funds towards this project, please contact us on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or you can donate to our Rebuilding Appeal by clicking here.

Torrential rain and high winds in western Myanmar have destroyed homes and triggered landslides in rural villages within Chin State. In Lailenpi, Matupi Township, thirty-seven homes were destroyed overnight as cyclone Mora headed north after having made landfall in Bangladesh on Tuesday 30th May 2017.

Roads serving Lailenpi have been damaged by landslides or are blocked with fallen trees and over 250 men, women and children are currently being supported by the local community after having been made homeless.

We are devastated to report that Health and Hope Myanmar’s training centre was also destroyed by high winds, along with allied buildings. Over the past 6 years, the centre has supported the training of 834 Community Health Workers from 551 villages across southern Chin and Rakhine State, in addition to acting as a central storage facility for the distribution of food relief during cyclone Komen.

Dr Sasa, founder of Health and Hope Myanmar, reported that the devastation of homes and buildings across the community will be felt for years to come and will impact the provision of training to Community Health Workers across the region in the short-term.

Photographs of the the training centre before and after the devastation can be seen here.

Elders from the town in Lailenpi have said that damage caused by the storm was the worst they have witnessed, with heavy rain continuing to hamper efforts to repair partially damaged buildings and provide shelter to those who have lost their homes. Flash flooding and damage to crops across the region continues to be a significant concern for this remote rural community.

We have set up a Cyclone Mora Appeal Fund on our donations page for those that may wish to respond. Funds will be allocated towards rebuilding costs and families affected by the cyclone.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

31st May 2017

Vice President of Myanmar visits Health and Hope’s work

We were absolutely delighted to host Vice President U Henry Van Thio in Lailenpi on Monday 27th February.

The Vice President arrived by helicopter, along with Deputy Minister Major-General Than Htut and Union Minister U Thant Sin Maung among others.

During the visit, the Vice President reviewed the work of Health and Hope, the proposal for building of an airstrip in Lailenpi and inspected the progress of development work within Lailenpi Town.

Over 2,000 townspeople, led by Dr Sasa, got hard to work to prepare for his arrival - even constructing two helipads to safely receive him!

A meeting was held in the sports field in the centre of Lailenpi where Dr Sasa proposed support for the betterment of roads, schools, the hospital, energy and communication for the people of the town.

We are so grateful to Vice President U Henry Van Thio and all the visiting dignitaries who gracefully supported many of these proposals and for their commitment to the people of Lailenpi and Chin State.

28th February 2017

Vehicle Appeal - Update!

Thank you! In just under two weeks, Health and Hope supporters have helped to raise the whole of the appeal budget for the new vehicle for Dr Sasa and our team in Myanmar!

We are so grateful for your generous support. We've had a wonderful response to the appeal and the team are delighted.

We have managed to secure the new vehicle and it comes with a whole host of additional extras such as underbody protection, additional lighting and a winch for emergencies.

The funds you have helped raise will also contribute towards the first year of maintenance costs, in addition to part of the salary for a driver and mechanic to accompany Dr Sasa during the gruelling 4-5 days drive it takes to reach isolated villages in southern Chin State.

Thank you so much to all who have been in contact with us and for those who have given so generously to this appeal.

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Patron: HRH Prince of Wales

Health and Hope UK is the working name of Health and Hope UK Limited, a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England under Company No. 08290412 and Charity No. 1151105. Health and Hope is registered in Myanmar under NGO Registration No. 0337.